The Last Ferry Out
A Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected May 20, 2025
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
On a trip to the tropical paradise where her fiancée died, a young woman begins to suspect the death was no accident—and the killer’s still on the island—in this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here.
“This book is Bartz at her best: twisty, shocking, and riveting—with a narrator you won’t stop rooting for.”—Laura Dave, #1 bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me
Paradise hides a deadly secret.
When Abby steps foot on Isla Colel, she isn’t sure what—if anything—she’ll find. She only knows that she needs to see the place where her fiancée, Eszter, died to try and make sense of the tragic accident.
The island is nothing like Abby expected: Though it was once a bustling tourist hub, a hurricane has left it a shell of its former self, with only a handful of residents remaining. Even the once-daily ferry to the mainland now runs every week or so.
There, Abby befriends an alluring group of expats, but her sense of unease surges when one of them says he knows the truth about Eszter’s final days. Before he can tell her more, though, he vanishes from the island. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, and the others are chillingly cavalier about his disappearance.
As her quest for the truth unearths dark secrets, shady pasts, and a web of lies, Abby grows more determined than ever to find out what happened to the love of her life. And the deeper she gets in the close-knit expat community, the more she suspects that one of them is Eszter’s killer—and will do anything to keep the truth buried. But will Abby discover who it is before she becomes the island’s next victim?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A grieving woman begins to suspect her fiancée may have been murdered in this inventive and atmospheric mystery. Traveling to the tropical Isla Colel off the coast of Mexico, Eszter intended to strengthen her Spanish and finish up the final details of her college project designing a boutique hotel while waiting for her fiancée to join her. What she didn’t expect was to die from foodborne anaphylactic shock. Months later, her grieving lover, Abby, returns to the island, hoping to learn more about her last days, only to discover that Eszter’s death may not have been an accident at all. Balancing between two timelines, author Andrea Bartz expertly builds the tension as Abby immerses herself in the culture of the island, befriending the small group of colorful expats who had welcomed Eszter—one of whom may be a killer. As we followed along with Abby’s quest for the truth, each new clue led us down a path we never suspected, until the final shocking reveal that left us stunned. Mystery fans, you’re in for a treat with this one.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Bartz (The Spare Room) chronicles a grieving woman's quest for answers in this stylish, serpentine thriller. Four months ago, Abby's fiancée, Eszter, died unexpectedly during a solo vacation on a small Caribbean island off of Cancún. Abby attempts to deal with the loss by heading to Isla Colel herself. Once she arrives, she becomes involved with a trio of expats Eszter had befriended during her trip, each of whom is dealing with their own trauma. As the behavior of the expat crew grows increasingly suspicious, flashbacks reveal escalating tensions in Abby and Eszter's relationship before Eszter left. When one of Abby's new friends disappears just before sharing the details of Eszter's death, Abby fears that her fiancée's killer is still on Colel. Though the setup signals a traditional locked-room mystery, Bartz delivers something sadder and stranger, pairing tender explorations of grief and homophobia with a series of horrifying twists. The results aren't for the squeamish, but those willing to follow Bartz's lead are in for a memorable ride.
